The Gift of Stealth
by Leafdragon117
Summary: Contrary to Pyrrhia's belief, Prince Arctic was not the last IceWing animus. The power has lain dormant for generations, until it reappears in Icefire, daughter of Queen Glacier's deceased sister, Crystal. Now Icefire must create her own gift to the IceWing tribe.
1. A New Animus

**A/N: Hi! I know I've got Flight of the Valkyrie going on, and it's terrible, but I felt like writing something, and this idea came to mind as I was reading** _ **Winter Turning**_ **, so, here is a, well, a short story, I guess.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **Wings of Fire**_ **, it's too awesome a series. I do own my OCs and, things here, though.**

"Icefire! Come on, get up!"

Icefire groaned, _I don't want to! Grr, fine._ The IceWing heaved herself off of the ice slab she slept on, unfurling her wings to greet a new dawn. _Why is it always this early? Is it because Queen Glacier always wakes up around now? That's horrible. Not that I'm against it or anything._ Icefire blinked open her eyes, expecting her brother to come barging in, but he did not. In fact, she could see his tail down the hallway, heading towards the Royal Dining Hall. Growling, Icefire leapt down from her bed and followed her brother.

Arriving at breakfast was the same every time. She and her brother would bow to the Queen and everyone else in greeting and respect, and they would take their places around the ice table. It was pretty much a slab, much like their beds, lined with food and ice globes.

"How is your gift going, Icefire?" There it was. The question that was repeated without fail every morning by either her mother or father.

Same reply from herself, too, "Fine, it's not done yet, though."

A nod, then silence. Every morning. Except for this one, apparently. Queen Glacier decided to ask her another question. Her regal, powerful voice carrying throughout the entire hall.

"What are planning, Icefire?"

Icefire nearly leapt out of her scales. The Queen had never really addressed her before! A nod, something of the sort, but this?! _Well, it was going to happen eventually_. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her parents swelling up with pride and about to answer, "The gift of stealth," she cut in.

All eyes shot to her, and it took all of her willpower to nod shrink down in front of the calculating gazes.

"Explain," Queen Glacier spoke.

"They're five snow leopard statues I'm going to carve." Icefire started, when no one reacted, she continued, "They can all move like a snow leopard, but stealthier and specifically for combat or killing,"

After the word 'combat' all heads turned away, back to their food, or the majority that started whispering amongst themselves. Queen Glacier turned away as well, satisfied with her answer. Icefire let out a breath of relief, nearly freezing her seal in the process.

An hour later, Icefire could be found in one of the inner courtyards, dragging her serrated claws over a lumpy piece of ice. A few aristocrats from breakfast could be seen observing her. _Three moons, are they trying to make me fail?_ She was desperately trying to ignore their judging stares and focus on her carving.

Eventually, she managed to ignore them, taking pride in her surprisingly accurate snow leopard ice carving. _Three down, three to go_. The current three were average-sized, the way most dragons would think of when they heard 'snow leopard'. But the last three she would make differently. The next one would be small, fast, and cunning, fit for assassinations. The fifth would be battle worthy, large and powerful. And the last would be an IceWing sculpture, leader of the other five, faster than the jumpiest fish, but more powerful than the strongest MudWing. Agile and strong. The perfect weapon.

As she stood there planning her next sculptures, she failed to notice the dragons from before carefully stalking up to peer at the previous three. Suddenly, a leopard statue careened onto its side, producing a quiet but noticeable _tink!_ Icefire's head snapped towards the dragon's direction, glaring at the possibility of her hard work being shattered. The aristocrat was frozen on the spot at being the target of her freezing glare. His face was sheepish, with a claw frozen in midair. No doubt the one that tipped over the sculpture.

"Get out. Now," Icefire couldn't help but pour her freezing ire into her words.

The aristocrat seemed frozen in place, until a female IceWing shoved him hard, causing him to stumble towards the exit.

Icefire caught their small, quiet argument they left, "What did you do that for?" That was the male.

"Because, Winter, you're a blundering mess who can't help himself! And kind of to save you," came the scathing reply.

"Why in Pyrrhia do you need to do that?"

"Cough, cough, Winter, that's Princess Icefire! An _animus_!"

"We're royalty too…" There the conversation drifted away.

 _Prince Winter and Princess Icicle, I presume?_ Shrugging to herself, she picked the sculpture back up, and left to find more ice for the rest of the sculptures.

 **A/N: And there is chapter one! Hope you enjoyed, it was kind of short, but this is a rather short story…so, yeah. Am I the only one that noticed that there is no Glacier on the** _ **Wings of Fire**_ **character selection? What the hell?**

 **Bye! -Leafy**


	2. Lethal New Creatures

**A/N: Hello, my fellow FanWings! Thanks to frosty polar bear and Celestialskyfire (awesome name, by the way), Dragon of the BlueFlames, bunnyluver(Guest), and another Guest for reviewing and/or following! Not much else to say except for the disclaimer and a request for everyone to please point out anything I could have done better/differently! Thank you!**

 **Oh, and I deeply, solemnly apologize for the month-long delay, I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me, :(.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to Tui T. Sutherland. I only own what she doesn't own in this story, including Icefire.**

 **Enjoy!**

Dinner was, as usual, monotone and practically recited. Arrive, greet, exchange pleasantries, take your place, eat, maybe talk, done. Icefire was desperately trying to resist the urge to enchant a seal carcass to dance on the table for as long as nobody bit it. Unfortunately, that would not be appreciated by anyone, and she refrained. Throughout the entire meal, Winter continued to shoot her curious glances, as if she couldn't see his massive brain-dead head glancing at her. 

Queen Glacier's dismissal could not be more welcome when it came. Icefire practically shot out of the Dining Hall. However, she suppressed her excitement and walked out in a dignified manner until at least her family's hallway. _Then_ she shot into her room and threw herself onto her bed. _No way I'm participating in the courtyard discussions tonight. Mother can't make me. Besides, I've got a sculpture to carve tomorrow._ Although the days were longer here, at least in summer, Icefire couldn't help but fall asleep before the sun was fully down.

A new day, a new sculpture, and more acting for aristocrats. Boring.

After breakfast, Icefire was working on her sculptures, a large rectangular prism of ice sitting in front of her. _No more nosy dragons digging in my business._ Her tail flew in an arc towards the ice, shattering the end into rougher ends. Every sculpture took a while to create, since Icefire wanted every detail and shape perfectly, and thus had to restart more than once for every leopard. She dreaded working on the IceWing she had planned, each and every scale had to be in place, or else the enchantment would be dysfunctional.

 _How long does it take to plan and enchant your gift, you ask? Which IceWing do you plan on asking, though? If you asked the one who built the Gift of Defense, probably years. But if you asked Princess Icefire, it would be much less._

Icefire finished carving the last tip of the IceWing's horns. She had decided to change the fifth and final sculpture into an IceWing, logically. Now, after about a year and a half, her gifts would be able to serve her tribe in every way possible. Perhaps they could just assassinate Burn and Blister and be done with the War. Blaze would be Queen of the SandWings and no one would be able to penetrate the Kingdom of Ice. She could not care less about the other tribes.

 _To each their own, I suppose,_ she thought dryly. She stepped back to admire her work, five glistening ice statues, perfect for battle. They were just about ready to be enchanted.

First, Icefire strode over to the IceWing, which was currently in a position with its wings flared and reared on its hind legs with claws raking an invisible opponent. _It was a beautiful creation_ , she thought. The IceWing had a snarling expression on her fair face – a close representation of what Icefire's mother could have been like based upon other's descriptions. She had designed it that way, from the sharp frills upon her head to the spiny tail on its lithe body.

She gently laid her right paw on one of its – no, her – wings and closed her eyes, focusing in what she would enchant this one with.

Feelings of leadership, confidence, strength – mental and physical – and the skill of a thousand commanders were built up and poured into the icy vessel.

Icefire stepped back after the sudden onslaught of power receded. Her vision went fuzzy for a moment, but when she blinked, in front of her stood a majestic IceWing. Currently in a lax position sitting down, the head frills and tail waved elegantly with the wind.

Icefire smiled, from now until the end of time, this being was a dragon, albeit not her mother, but still a living, breathing, IceWing. _She won't replace Crystal, but she can certainly be a Crystal._ Softly, Icefire whispered to the IceWing, "You will be known and addressed as Crystal from now until the end of time."

She had tried as hard as she could to resist the urge to give the IceWing a real personality, but she knew that Crystal would only ever be a weapon and gift to the Ice Kingdom, nothing more, nothing less. _Besides, Glacier already filled that role._

Having made peace with herself, Icefire turned to the other sculptures; two identical, average-sized twins, one small, speedy one, and another bulky and strong one. Frost, Bite, Wind, and Ursa.

In Frost, Icefire gave her the ability to work the best with her twin, Bite, along with the normal abilities as a leopard, though slightly enhanced. The same for Bite as well, because he and Frost are twins.

As Icefire padded towards Wind, she suddenly felt a cold rage bubble into her chest, making her see red. She felt…murderous…for lack of a better term. Or perhaps insane. But as fast as it overcame her, it disappeared, leaving Icefire confused but with a clearer head than ever.

Icefire shrugged and continued. In Wind, she shoved the same skills of a snow leopard as Frost and Bite, but she also gave her far increased speed. The same for Ursa, though Icefire gave him much increased brute strength.

By the end of it all, Icefire stood surrounded by five glimmering ice creatures, specially enhanced to be the ultimate special force team. While their gazes were cold, alert, and calculating, they also shone with a loyalty to the IceWing command. To top it all off, none of them could feel pain as a weakness; only as an alarm.

Icefire grinned victoriously. She had carefully measured the use of her magic, ensuring that she had used the most of her magic. Any more and she would go worse than insane and a little murderous.

 **A/N: There we go! I am so so so sorry, again, for the ridiculously long wait, :(. Thank you all for your patience! There will be one more chapter after this one, then this short story will be concluded! There may be a longer story much later about the rest of Icefire's life. If you want to see that, tell me in a review along with what you think, what I could do better, and how I did overall! Please? I could use the feedback.**


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